"DDay 60th celebrations" Ranville by Morepork

Ranville Travel Guide: 3 reviews and 23 photos

Re-enactment of D-Day June 6th 2004

AS I had been parachuting for over 32 years, I was invited to take part in the 60th. Anniversary.
At first, I thought it was just an invitation to attend, but as time went on, the emails & phone calls began to arrive. It was then, that I realised that they wanted me to jump in!
So it was time to come out of retirement & do some solid training to get back into the harness again!

I visited Ranville from the sky, doing a freefall after dispatching some troops at lower altitude from a lovely old DC-3 Dakota 'Fi FI Kate'. Here I am just after landing, in the rapeseed field.
In the background, is one of the fields where many of the gliders landed at Ranville with the famous X roads just to the left. They were scattered in all directions & the pilots were credited with some of the most precise airmanship of WWII. Some of them landed within feet of their target.
There were two types of gliders - the 'Horsas' & I forget the other name.
The village of Ranville was the first village to be liberated in the first 24 hrs. of the campaign.
Prince Charles had visited a couple of hours beforehand.

Historical places

My new friends from Sth. Africa.

This area was where the Allies fought for the freedom for days& days. The price was horrendous but all in the name of Liberty.
Hundreds of paratroopers in the air. Some made it, sadly,others didn't.
We were near to the Pegasus Bridge which was a vital main target to be taken to be taken as early as possible.
More about that later.

End Of jumping !

Jumping finished !

The smoke signal , signalled that jumping was finished for the day.!

Pros and Cons

Pros:Very Historical area
Cons:Hard to believe what happened here 60 yrs. ago.
In a nutshell:Hard to believe that I'm here. Very peaceful now.

Last visit to Ranville: Jun 2004
Intro Updated Oct 22, 2006
Add to Trip Planner (?)
Report Abuse

Reviews (2)

Ranville Campground Hotels (2)

We were disappointed to find we had to cater for ourselves so had to make do with whatever we had. Go find a restaurant... more travel advice

Ranvilles' best campground Hotels (2)

Comfortable camp in pup-tent at Ranville. In my own sleeping-bag in my own tent, catering for myself - mainly ! more travel advice

Comments (4)

vichatherly Jul 20, 2009 at 4:34 PM Report Abuse

Excellent jumping photos. We just come back from Normandy and did a tour of the beaches and some of the museums and cemeteries.
keeweechic Dec 18, 2004 at 5:27 AM Report Abuse

You're an amazing lady... what a great trip to do and do that jump... nice that you remembered those who made the sacrifices....well done
dr.firas Dec 16, 2004 at 2:55 AM Report Abuse

Mine oh mine, never knew you're the super mama of my super friend here ;-D Great, what a nice job, I agree with Pam, would love to see more about the jump here , all the best ;-D
kiwi Aug 30, 2004 at 2:50 PM Report Abuse

Hope we hear more about this jump!